The Teammates

By David Halberstam
Reviewed by Lou Parrotta

I recently read a book by the famed historian and lifelong baseball fan David Halberstam.  This book, cleverly titled The Teammates, describes a sixty-plus year friendship between four of the Boston Red Sox's all-time greats ­ Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dominic DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky.  It was written with the same love and attention that books like October 1964 and The Summer of '49 were written, but this one added a new dimension ­ true friendship.

The book, written immediately following the death of the greatest hitter who ever lived, Williams, begins with a warm recollection of how DiMaggio and Pesky drove from Massachusetts to Florida on a final voyage to see their beloved teammate and friend Williams.  Williams, who was in failing health, did not have long on this earth, so two of his best friends wanted to go to cheer him up and ultimately say good-bye.  Doerr, whose wife herself is in fragile health, was unable to travel from Oregon to Massachusetts for the arduous road trip.  His presence was necessary at his wife's side.

While on the long trip, reminiscing became the norm, and the book uses the flashback form to describe how each of these great ballplayers cemented their lives to one another.  The book tells of each player breaking in to the Major Leagues in the early 1940s, and turning their stints with the Sox into friendships that would last more than each would have originally thought.  Each player had distinct personalities, Williams was caustic, Doerr extremely quiet, Pesky energetic, and DiMaggio serious, and they molded those personalities into a friendship that most anyone would envy.  They stood by each other through ups and downs both on and off the field, and they remained as close as any friends could be in their lives after baseball.

The book uses great anecdotes to describe the ways the quiet and reserved Doerr would have to put up with the loud and sometimes obnoxious Williams.  It tells of the difficulties that DiMaggio faced simply because he was one of the few players up to that point to ever wear glasses.  It also shows how Pesky, still in baseball sixty-plus years later as a part-time coach with the Red Sox, would do anything to stay in uniform after his playing days ended.

Each player went on to different lives after they left the diamond.  DiMaggio became a successful businessman, Doerr stayed in his beloved Oregon, Williams was a manager then a celebrity, and Pesky just changed roles from player to manager, coach, instructor, etc.  No matter what, though, they stayed together in a bond of friendship that is seldom seen among today's sports stars.

Halberstam hit a home run with this terrific little book.  He expertly described how men could be there for one another through anything, and that despite being co-workers men could still love each other.  I urge you to read this warm book and realize that friendship is one of life's most precious gifts.